"Um... Mori Shinra-san, where do I insert the coin?"
Yukinoshita Yukino held a 500 yen coin in her hand. After seriously studying the drink machine for a good while and failing to find a coin slot, she had no choice but to ask the person beside her for help.
"Hmm?" Mori Shinra's face was full of question marks. Coin slot? What coin slot? Didn't they already pay the waiter for the 'drink bar'?
Fortunately, his reaction was very quick. He said, "You're hopeless. Give me the coin."
Yukinoshita obediently placed the coin in his hand and handed him the cup from her right hand.
"What are you drinking?" he asked.
"Coffee is fine," she replied.
Then, Yukinoshita watched as Mori Shinra did not insert the coin, but after taking the cup, walked straight to the espresso machine, placed it underneath, pressed a button, and just like that, a cup of coffee was made.
Her 500 yen coin was not used at all during the process.
"Here." Shinra handed the coffee to Yukinoshita, and couldn't help but laugh seeing her hesitant expression.
"So no coin is needed?" Yukinoshita was very smart. After he had demonstrated it once, she already completely understood everything.
"That's right."
"Then my coin."
"It's a tip. Perfectly reasonable, right?"
Yukinoshita was speechless. Fortunately, it was only 500 yen. For a little rich girl like her, it was nothing at all. She would just consider it tuition fees.
Thinking this, she prepared to take her coffee back to her seat, only to find that Mori Shinra had stopped her and was handing her his own empty cup.
"Coke, thanks. This is your tip," Shinra said, matter-of-factly pushing the 500 yen coin into her hand, along with his empty cup.
Yukinoshita pursed her lips. She wanted to say, who cares about your little tip? But in the end, she didn't say it out loud. She placed her coffee to the side and got him a cup of Coke.
Watching Mori Shinra's back as he walked away with the Coke, Yukinoshita silently took out her small wallet. After a moment's thought, she placed that single coin in a separate compartment.
Back at the table.
"Let's begin!" Yuigahama seemed very excited. Studying in the Service Club always felt like they were just in a different classroom.
Now, having a study session in a family restaurant, it finally felt like what a study session should be in her mind.
Following Yuigahama's command, Yukinoshita was the first to take out her headphones. Shinra followed suit. Finally, Hikigaya, seeing that they had all put on headphones, also took out his own earbuds and put them on.
Yuigahama's face was full of astonishment at this scene.
"Wait, why are you all listening to music?"
I never saw you do this when we were studying in the Service Club!
"Because it's too noisy around here. Listening to music helps to block out miscellaneous sounds and become more focused," Yukinoshita said.
"That's right. When you can no longer feel the music, it means you're completely focused. That gives you more motivation," Hikigaya chimed in.
"I'm not listening to music. I'm listening to an audiobook," Shinra corrected.
Then, the three of them simultaneously cast puzzled glances his way.
Music, they could understand. But what the heck was an audiobook?
Who listens to an audiobook while reading? Can you really concentrate like that?
However, according to Mori Shinra's tests... you really can.
This involved the underlying logic of the 'Photographic Memory' ability. As long as he used this ability, everything he saw would be recorded in meticulous detail, and achieving this did not require much of his mental energy.
And while listening to an audiobook couldn't trigger 'Photographic Memory'—after all, it was photographic, not audiographic—since reading didn't take up much of his energy, why not multitask? Read and relax at the same time?
This was the charm of time management.
In fact, if he wanted to be even more hardcore, he could have been playing other study materials through his headphones. Although learning by listening is not as efficient as learning by seeing, he could still absorb some of it.
But that would be too tiring. The whole point of having a cheat ability was to make studying easier. If he had it and still had to work so hard, wouldn't that defeat the purpose?
"I completely don't understand." The color drained from Yuigahama's pupils. She absolutely could not comprehend why such a person existed in the world. Photographic memory was one thing, but now he was telling her he could multitask, combining entertainment with his reading.
Was this guy even human?
"It's mainly because I've already understood most of what needs to be understood. Now, all I need to do is memorize," Shinra said, indicating that he wasn't as inhuman as she imagined.
A good memory can help you overcome 90% of the difficulties in liberal arts. The remaining 10% requires talent, or what one might call inspiration.
Shinra didn't know if he had that inspiration, but he was certain he didn't have as much as Yukinoshita. However, by reading through various sample essays, he should be able to copy the style during the exam and not fall too far behind.
"That's still super exaggerated, you know!" Yuigahama said, slumping onto the table like a deflated balloon.
Hikigaya comforted her, "It's fine. You don't have to compare yourself to him."
Yuigahama thought about it and felt that he was right. She wasn't the one who had made the bet with Shinra; it was Yukinoshita.
Of course, she wouldn't show this. After all, Yukino-chan was sitting right next to her. As a member of Team Yukinoshita, she couldn't possibly do something that would boost the enemy's prestige and lower her own side's morale.
"Yukino is amazing too! She's not going to lose to him... right?" Yuigahama said, looking at Yukinoshita as if seeking some kind of confirmation.
If you think I'm not going to lose, then why do you have that expression?
By the way, I'm the one who made the bet with Mori Shinra. Why are you and Hikigaya getting so competitive?
Yukinoshita sighed, opened her book, and said, "Rather than the bet, you should focus on your own studies, Yuigahama-san. The scores from the regular exams will be recorded in your permanent file."
"I know that much..." Yuigahama also opened her book along with her. Looking at the three of them who had put their headphones back on, she still couldn't help but complain, "This isn't what a study session is supposed to be like!"
"...Then, what is a study session supposed to be like?" Yukinoshita was a little curious. Hikigaya also turned to look. Although Shinra didn't look at Yuigahama, his ears perked up.
"Um... everyone first figures out the scope of the test, finds the parts they don't understand, and asks questions... then there's a break time. After the break, we continue the discussion and exchange gos... ahem, consultations. We exchange consultations. Um... and we'd probably chat occasionally?" Yuigahama said uncertainly.
"Isn't that a tea party, not a study session?" Yukinoshita summarized with sharp precision.
"I can't refute that at all."